CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Street closures, bus reroutes and train service changes will be in effect downtown Saturday for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival.
The lighting procession steps off from Oak and Michigan at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and heads south to Wacker and east to Columbus, according to a statement from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. It will end with a fireworks display over the Chicago River at Michigan.
Several main street closures will be in effect from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., including:
- Michigan from Oak to Wacker;
- Oak from State to Michigan; and
- Upper Wacker from Michigan to the east turnaround.
Other street closures include:
- Upper Illinois between Michigan and the InterContinental hotel side entrance from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
- Oak between Clark and State from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
- Dearborn between Delaware and Maple from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
- Walton between State and Clark from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
- The east curb lane of Clark between Oak and Delaware from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
- The north curb lane of Delaware between Dearborn and Clark from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and
- Columbus Drive curb lanes between Wacker and Randolph from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a full southbound closure from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Several buses will be rerouted due to street closures for the festival, including the No. 3 King Drive, No. 4 Cottage Grove, No. 6 Jackson Park Express, No. 22 Clark, No. 36 Broadway, No. 66 Chicago, No. 70, Division, No. 146 Inner Dr./Michigan Express, No. 147 Outer Drive Express and No. 151 Sheridan routes, according to the CTA.
The CTA will also operate longer trains on the Blue, Brown, Orange and Pink lines from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., according to the transit agency. More frequent trains will run from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the Red Line.
Metra will add more seating capacity and extra service will be provided on the BNSF, Union Pacific Northwest and West lines, according to a statement from Metra.